Chasing Away the Monsters
by Wedjatqi
Summary: John and Teyla enjoy a camping trip alone together. JT. Inspired by the episode Whispers.


**Rating**: **M**

**Disclaimers**: I own no part of the Stargate world, I make no money from this and I wish that I could make money from having such fun.

**Note: **Okay, so I started out with the idea for a ficlet of John in the forest and THIS fic appeared, clearly not a ficlet at over 10,000 words! I thought it worth a break from all the dark angst of the other fics.

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The air was warm enough, but it was dark inside the tree line. The twisted shapes of the tall towering trees created thick patches of shadow, into which the high overhead moon could not penetrate.

John glanced up at the tiny slice of moonlit sky that he could see overhead between the thickly pressed trees. The moon was full and bright, with thin wisps of cloud drifting across it, almost too stereotypical of a werewolf movie for John's comfort.

Around him everything was quiet. Too quiet. He held still, his own breathing seemingly too loud. He held his breath for a moment. There seemed to be no sounds in this forest – no small creatures scuttling around, no birds moving in the treetops, no owls hooting in the branches. Hell, he would even go for a few bats flapping by right now. Everything was quiet, deeply so. It was the depth of night in the forest, the sun having set long ago and nothing was stirring.

John winced at his own thoughts, turning his head, scanning the thick darkness with only thin patches of moonlight. A slope began just ahead, covered with trees and creating more twisting shadows into which he couldn't see.

From where he stood, the moonlight over him, the slope looked quite a hike and he began to doubt again. It was dark and he had the feeling that there were far too many eyes watching him from the darkness.

She bumped into him abruptly, making him jump and his heart rate blotted.

She chuckled at him as she moved past, heading into the thicker darkness. "Since when have you been afraid of a dark forest, John?"

His wits re-gathered and his startled cry just held in, he quietly let out a breath and glared at her retreating back. "I'm not afraid, just…cautious," he replied.

Her shape stopped in the darkness ahead and he saw faint moonlight shine off her hair and face as she looked back at him. He didn't need much light to see her grin.

"If you say so," she replied with a doubtful tone.

He narrowed his eyes at her, knowing she was baiting him, yet he could not stop himself from rising to it. "It's late and dark, Teyla," he pointed out.

She chuckled again, the sound deep and quiet through the short space between them.

"It is not that dark. If you step out of that patch of moonlight your vision with improve," she replied as she turned and moved away, further into the darkness.

John knew she was right, but didn't reply as he moved out of the moonlight. The darkness enfolded around him. He paused and closed his eyes for a beat. As he did he became aware of some sounds to his left. He opened his eyes, his night vision slightly restored, and looked towards the small sounds. Tiny little scratches that were obviously being made by some small creature moving around at the base of a nearby tree. John frowned at himself and moved forward, following Teyla. She was almost at the base of the slope.

"How far away is this place again?" He asked in a whisper as he hurried his steps a little to catch up with her, but trying not to make it obvious that he was.

"Not far, just on the other side of this rise," she replied, with that amusement in her voice again. Her breath shifted as she began to make her way up the incline, using handholds on the smaller thinner trees dotted out between the massive ones.

"It's not like I haven't met monsters for real in a few forests before," John protested quietly, reaching out to use a passing tree branch for support as he climbed after her.

"As have I," she replied with that annoyingly amused logical way of hers.

Her reply only reminded him of how true her point was though, and that her people had been hiding from the Wraith in the trees for a long time. He didn't like those reminders of how dangerous and frightening her life had been before he knew her. Not that life working out of Atlantis didn't hold horrors of its own, but at least you usually had backup on a mission. His memory kindly supplied him with more than a few examples of when that had not been the case just in the last six years.

"Exactly," he replied, having caught up with her now, but keeping his pace behind her. He couldn't exactly see much of her, other than her outline and the occasional highlight of her hair and arms as she moved through patches of faint moonlight.

"Trust me, you will not mind the trek once you see the site," she replied, her breath a little fast with the climb.

"I better," John mumbled loud enough for her to hear, but he knew she understood that he was just teasing. It was an old conversation between them - her leading him through the forest and him complaining about it. In his mind, any outing with just the two of them was good in his books. It was just that he had been watching far too many horror movies lately.

A new rustling caught his attention and he paused, Teyla still moving away ahead of him. He scanned the darkness, the nervousness returning.

"You seen any of those horror movies Martins likes?" He asked her quietly.

He heard her steps pause. "Only one and that was enough," she replied. "Do you fear that zombies are hiding in the trees waiting to feast upon you?"

John glanced away from the darkness and up at her. There was just enough moonlight highlighting her shape.

"Werewolves actually," he corrected her.

She moved back towards him as she chuckled. "I promise you, John, there are no such creatures lingering in this forest," she informed him. She reached him, stood slightly higher than him on the slope. Her hands landed on his shoulders and he could see just enough of her face now to see her smile.

His concern evaporated in the wake of the electricity filling the air between them. The air was warm anyway, but the added heat of her hands on his shoulders drew his attention to the sensation of her body so much closer to him now.

"This is very risky, you know." He told her with his own amusement now.

"Oh?" She asked her head tilting slightly to show her curiosity was caught.

"Lovers alone in the forest - its just asking for trouble," he replied his voice deep and quiet. He leant a little closer to her, into her warmth and scent.

"Really?" She asked playing along with him. "Are we to become a beast's victims?"

"Well, maybe one of us could survive, to stumble out of the forest days later mumbling stories about the monster in the forest," he suggested.

"Stories of which no one would believe," Teyla continued, clearly understanding Hollywood more than he realised.

"Of course not," he grinned back.

She shifted closer, her weight resting on his shoulders slightly more. "What should we do to avoid such an ending?"

"We could just make camp somewhere around here and never, ever, comment on the strange sounds we might in the forest," he replied, slipping his arms around her.

She leant into his embrace slightly, but not totally. She made a thoughtful sound. "I suppose then, if to keep to the rules of your people's movies, we should never make love out here, because that would clearly mean that death was on the horizon."

He narrowed his eyes at that, impressed at her knowledge, but not by her point.

"On second thoughts, who believes anything they see in the movies anyway?" He replied disregarding this game instantly.

She laughed at him and pulled out of his embrace. He battled his disappointment and let her go, his hands dropping from her back slowly as she moved away back up the slope again.

"You will appreciate this camp site and I promise, there will be no zombies there to spoil the night," she told him over her shoulder.

He hurried to follow her again, his body warmer than before, but he found himself glancing around him again.

"Sounds good, but couldn't we have walked there in the daylight?" He muttered.

"I prefer walking there in the moonlight," she replied having heard him.

The steeper part of the slope had passed and the climb was slightly easier as he looked up at her.

"And exactly how many guys have you brought out to see this 'camp site'?" He asked.

"Very few," she replied glancing back at him. The canopy overhead was thinner here and he could see more of her face.

"How few?" He demanded with a light tone, but he was in fact very interested in the reply. He moved forward a little faster, so that he walked alongside her now and he tilted his head to better see her expression through the darkness.

She looked round at him and he saw her smile. "I am sure that when you were a young man, that you accompanied several ladies on 'camping trips' into forests before," she asked.

"There weren't that many forests around where I grew up, although…" he admitted looking away and into his memories with a smile. "There was that one school near one."

"Oh?" She asked.

"Laura Oxley," John recalled one girl's name and he put more warmth into his voice than the memory really needed, but he wanted to tease Teyla about it. "We slipped away one afternoon."

"How old were you?"

"About fifteen I think," he guessed. "Maybe sixteen. I remember I had one thing on my mind that was for sure."

She laughed at that, her voice deep and full of a woman's knowledge of him. "Not much has changed I feel."

"Hey," he objected with a grin.

They had reached the top of the slope and flat forest lay before them. The trees around them were more widely spread and with a wider canopy that let in large pools of moonlight.

"I seem to recall only last week that you completely forgot a discussion we had one evening," she said.

"You were naked," John pointed out. "I've told you before, you can't expect me to hold a decent conversation if you're walking around naked."

"I was only half naked," she replied. The small distance between them as they walked side by side only made the intimacy of their conversation all the stronger for him.

"Still naked," he replied. "And you can't then sit down and start brushing your hair with all of you from the waist upwards on display," he told her. Waving at her middle, the memories stirring vividly of that evening. She had showered in his quarters and his large towels were both in the wash, so she had wrapped one of the smaller ones around her waist as she sat and brushed her hair, allowing her skin to air dry.

"You remember that, but you did not recall anything of which we discussed," she told him.

"Discussed? You were talking _to_ me about Rodney's birthday party," he replied.

"Of which you still cannot remember the details I mentioned." She was amused, though the first time she had realised that he had missed a conversation due to not having listened to her she had been annoyed with him. Then he had explained why he hadn't paid attention and then had made it up to her.

"I told you before, if you're naked…" He repeated.

"You seem to hear other things I say when I am naked," she replied. "Or are instructions and compliments not included in your rule?"

"Instructions?" He focused on with interest.

She looked right at him and gave him a wide grin. His body warmed further, a large part of his blood supply heading south and his steps faltered for a moment. She strode on ahead. He quickened his steps again. He was grinning himself, having forgotten the darkness around them.

"You see, this is the danger," he remarked as he fell into step with her again. "We start getting distracted by sexy talk and before you know it, the monster gets us…"

The moonlight glowed brightly over her as she stopped and he opened his mouth to say more, but the view registered through the trees. The two of them stood on the top of the other hillside between the last trees this side of the forest plateau.

Beyond there was a massively wide valley, mostly circular and at the far side a massive waterfall flowed down into the valley below. The moonlight, strong and uninhibited by trees now, glowed over the entire view. The distant water shone and sparkled beautifully in the starlight as it fell from such a great height. John ran his eyes down the wide line of falling water in the far distance.

"Why can't we hear it?" He asked quietly.

"It is further away than you think, though if you listen closely enough you can hear it when the breeze carries the sound this way," she replied, equally as quietly.

At the base of the waterfall, the valley floor was filled with pockets of water pools of all sizes, all the water ultimately flowing together towards the right side, flowing together into a slow moving, yet widest river John had ever seen leaving the valley to the right. The river moved slower than expected with such a huge waterfall behind it, and he could see smaller little waterfalls also feeding into the valley from all sides, all adding to the wide pools of water that lead eventually to the river. Across it all, shrubs and small trees had taken root where they could on tiny patches of exposed rock and soil. He could see wide winged birds sailing over the water, dipping occasionally, likely fishing or catching insects in the moonlight.

"Wow," John muttered.

"Mapa's people have kept this area protected from hunting and farming, preserving the area as it is. As most of the settlements are further towards the Gate and there are other large bodies of water closer to them, this area has been kept untouched and pristine. Most of the rivers and lakes in this continent are fed from here. There are bubbling springs this side of the valley and over in the far distance beyond you can just see the mountains that feed the waterfall."

John narrowed his eyes through the darkness and mist curling off the massive waterfall, and he could just about make out the mountains he had noticed earlier when the two suns had been up.

"There is snow almost all year round on the mountains and it constantly feeds the Wide River of the Ancestors, which flows to that waterfall."

John nodded his understanding as he took in the view. "I should've brought a camera," he muttered.

"The city's botany, biology and geography studies have plenty of images from their visits here," she whispered. "But, there is nothing like experiencing this for oneself."

John nodded at her understatement. He knew that the photos would be good, but they couldn't capture the majesty of that first moment upon seeing this sight. "I knew they said there was some killer waterfall on this planet, but I didn't think it was…this," he said as he waved his hand towards the view.

Teyla chuckled again and he broke his eyes from the view to her again.

"And here I was thinking you had another reason for bringing me here to camp," he asked her suggestively.

She smiled up at him, her face fully lit by the moonlight.

"I am afraid we will have yet to walk through some more forest to reach the point where we can camp," she replied, indicating the area to the left, and not answering his comment. She looked back to him. "Are you happy to face the threat of monsters still?"

He narrowed his eyes at her and she smiled wider, before turning and walking away before the moment could expand. That was the second time she had walked away from a nice moment between them. He got the impression that she was waiting purposefully until they reached their destination, before she kissed him again. Curious, he followed, looking back at the view to their right over and over again as he did.

They reached a well-worn track that ran around the edge of the hillside, leading them back into forest cover. She was quiet now, moving with more agile movements, her attention focused on where they were going. John tried to start a conversation a couple of times, and though she willing spoke with him, he got the impression that she would prefer silence, so he fell silent.

The track turned downwards, around rock formations and alongside a couple of tiny springs. The sounds of the waterfall began to be recognisable. However, after a while he realised that the sound was not coming from the far distance, where the massive waterfall remained, but that the sound was growing closer.

He peered up ahead of them, down the track through the trees, but could not see anything yet except shadows and moonlight, and the fleeting movements darting between trees over the track that Teyla said were small nocturnal birds. He enjoyed it though, walking alongside her quietly as the track allowed, falling back when it wouldn't and the moonlight allowed him to watch her moving ahead of him. Though this trip had started out as her visiting her family friend, Mapa, she had suggested that the two of them could go camping alone for a couple of days. He had leapt at the chance, though the creepy forest hadn't been in the brochure. If Disney designed a creepy forest, it would have looked like those twisted branched trees back down the slope. This area was much nicer and occasionally he could see the view out across the valley below again. Maybe tomorrow they could walk down there. He should have brought a camera.

They were halfway down the slope when Teyla turned off the track, heading into denser trees. The darkness encroached further around them, but the sound of falling water grew louder.

Teyla led the way through the darkness, following some track that only she could see in her memory. They moved around a large rounded boulder, sitting oddly out of place in the middle of the forest, and John imagined that the geology and geography teams had really enjoyed themselves on this planet. He made a note to read up on those reports when they got back home.

The sound of water drew his attention away from the boulder and as they stepped around it, slightly up the rise he could see a small moonlit waterfall ahead. Its water fell in a small wide fall from the rock wall above, pouring off a ledge and down into a pool of water beneath. As they moved towards it, John could see wisps of steam rising from the wide pool surface.

"Hot water?" John asked.

"There are several hot springs this side of the valley and the hot water mixes with the colder rain water. Mapa's people long ago carved pools such as this, where the two waters meet. It is thought to be very beneficial for the body and mind."

They reached the flattened area around the pool. It was a good sized dipping pool, running right off to the right, the water surface level. As Teyla moved around to the left side of the pool to set down her backpack, John walked away to the right, towards the edge of the pool. He could see now that it was like an infinity pool, the water leaving the pool by running over the far rounded edge of the pool. He paused as he saw what this end of the pool overlooked. Another wide, far larger, waterfall tumbled down a wide crack in the side of the hillside, over the side of which this pool overlooked. The large waterfall ran over large bulbous rock formations, slowing its fall and creating small eddies and narrow ledge pools of water. It all ran from above him to the left, running down to the right. Steam ghosted over it all further below as the waterfall sloped down and away, no doubt the water eventually feeding the valley floor below.

"Wow. Gotta say," John said as he turned to look back at Teyla. "I love this planet…" His words trailed off as he saw Teyla.

She stood entirely naked, setting aside her clothes on top of her backpack. She stood up tall and looked at him along the length of the pool, the moonlight glowing over her, highlighting the natural shadows of her body. She smiled at him as she moved forward, crouching down to dip her hand into the water over the lipped edge of the pool.

"Will you join me, John?" She invited as her hand disappeared into the water and she smiled as she looked back up to him.

Her eyes sparkled in the starlight and her breasts hung full and dark as she leant forward, sitting down on the side of the pool, her lower legs sliding into the water.

John ran his eyes up from her knees, up her belly and breasts to her face.

"Was that an instruction?" He asked with a smile, surprised he could even talk right now.

She set her hands by her hips as she smiled up at him. "Perhaps that was not the best description. Perhaps, I should have said…requests?"

John smiled at that, as he watched her lift her backside from the edge of the pool and then she slid down into the water. She sighed with pleasure as she did. The water was mostly clear, only some foam from the small waterfall drifting over the surface and some wisps of steam. He couldn't see all of her form though from here, since the moonlight shone over the surface.

He moved away from his spot abruptly and headed around the pool, his eyes on her as he did. She pushed off the side of the pool and swam gently through the water, passing him as he moved the opposite way. He smiled down at her as she dipped right under the water and appeared again, her hair dark and slicked back with water. She ran one hand over it, sculpting it to her as she drifted on to the far side of the pool, close to where he had stood looking out at the waterfall beyond.

John reached her backpack and dumped his down alongside hers. There was a tent inside it and a large sleeping bag, but he didn't care to set about pulling them out yet. He and Teyla could put up one of these tents in a hailstorm, so in the moonlight on a friendly planet would be no problem. So, he set about hurriedly pulling off his own clothes, looking back at Teyla as he did. She had reached the far side and was leant back against it, her elbows set against the edge, thereby lifting her breasts slightly above the surface of the water. John removed his clothes faster.

The air was warm enough, but he still felt a slight chill as he pulled off the last of his uniform and moved over to the edge of the pool. He glanced up as he did and saw that Teyla was watching him. Despite the darkness and distance, he could feel the appraisal and appreciation from her. He felt a little on show, not that he hadn't been naked around Teyla enough, but he felt a little self conscious for a moment as he dipped his hand into the pool first as she had done. It was warmer than he had expected, the temperature of a warm bath. He set one hand on the edge of the pool and slid down into the water. The pool's floor dropped away as he moved further away from the edge. He lowered himself right down into the water and swam with easy strokes through the moonlit water.

The small waterfall feeding this pool fell to his left and he slowed to enjoy it as he passed by. A faint spray filled the air around it, misting warmly over his face. Like Teyla, he chose this moment to dive down under the water, but he submerged right down fully under the surface.

The water was warmer lower down and he opened his eyes to the crystal clear water made darker by the night above. He could hear the soft noise of the waterfall above on the surface and in the distance a subtle rumble that was the larger waterfall beyond. He set his bent knees onto the bottom of the pool, feeling the smoothed surface that still felt hand carved despite the years of feet and water over it. The rock was warmed through and the heat comfortable against his skin. He looked off to the far side of the pool making out Teyla's legs and body through the water. Moonlight shifted through the water as the surface of the pool moved from the waterfall impacting into it, constantly altering the flowing shadows and light cutting through the water around him.

John pushed off the bottom, sweeping his arms forward and then outwards to propel himself up and in Teyla's direction.

He surfaced into the moonlight, the air cooler in comparison. He stroked a hand over his head, squeezing water back and off his face and hair, and then wiped his eyes and nose clear of water as he kicked his way in Teyla's direction.

"It is very enjoyable, is it not?" She asked, her smile and voice open and warm.

John nodded as he wiped his hair back again, almost to her.

She dipped down into the water, coating her upper shoulders with water, before lifting back up and turning to face out from the pool. She set her forearms along the lip of the pool, where the water constantly kept its level, a thin layer pouring out off the lip to eventually join the water of the waterfall somewhere below.

He reached her side, settling towards the edge alongside her, pausing in copying her position looking out from the pool, to press a kiss to her bare closest shoulder. She looked round at him with a smile.

He settled his forearms on the edge of the pool, feeling the water flowing around his arms as it diverted around the obstacle. He looked out at the wonderful view and sighed with admiration, feeling his body relaxing, warm and happy here with just her.

"Wow," he repeated yet again.

"It is a wonderful place," she whispered beside him.

John shifted so his elbow, upper arm, and side pressed closer to hers, and she leant further against him in the water. Happy with that for now, he leant further forward, peering over the edge of the pool. The water from their pool ran down dark stone, diverting into small rivulets down to the right, where bright green ferns had grown on the rock somehow, drinking up the constantly passing water. Everything smelt fresh and clean, and alive. To the right of the pool, the forest became thinner overlooking the large waterfall, smaller shrubs and more ferns hanging down the barely eroded stone and rock to absorb what water they could. John wondered how long it had taken to carve out this pool from such hard rock.

The lip of the pool under his forearms had been carefully carved to make it smooth and only the very top had signs of wear. John ran his hand along the edge, feeling the faint old tool marks still. It must be like marble or granite, though that was where his geology knowledge ended. It was probably some extra strong alien stone that was twice the density of granite or something.

Teyla's arm pressed tighter against his and he looked round as she pressed a kiss to his shoulder as he had done to her. He smiled at her as she lifted her eyes up to meet his. She looked as relaxed as he felt. He reached his arm around her, pulling her towards him and she turned as he did. He pulled back from the edge of the pool as she slid her back against it, sliding between him and the pool's side. He set both his hands on the pool's rim on either side of her and pressed up against her, flattening her against him. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and her legs slid against his, looking for purchase to hold herself up. She was too short to reach the floor and had to use her arms to hold herself up, and even he couldn't feel the pool bottom here, instead he set his toes against the low curved side of the pool wall. He reached down with one hand into the water and pulled her leg up over his hip. She smiled as she lifted her knees to rest over his hips, tucking her lower legs around his backside, as he pressed her against the side of the pool, making them stable enough for now.

She pulled herself closer to him, her hands running up the back of his neck as she pulled him into a deep kiss. He met the kiss's passion, focusing his whole attention on just that contact, lips against lips, tongues sliding against one another. He deepened the kiss further, securing one arm around her, holding securely onto the edge behind her, as he freed his other hand and slid it around and down her side under the water. He caressed her hip and round to her backside as she pulled it from the side of the pool. Then round under her hip and along her thigh to her knee at his hip. He was intensely aroused, the need for her having been steadily growing for some time, and lulled into a more relaxed, yet no less powerful mood. He ran his hand up the top of her thigh to her middle, sliding over her belly and then up, surfacing from the water as he caressed her breasts.

She broke her mouth from his and he slid his mouth across her cheek. He pressed kisses under her ear and jaw as she tilted her head back and to the side, her hands clasping his shoulders.

He shifted her against him, holding her against the pool's side as he dipped lower and she lifted, so that he could kiss down her neck to her chest, over the upper swells of her breasts. As she sighed, her nipples lifted from the water and he tasted them. Her legs were now around his middle, holding tighter and he could feel the natural rocking of her body that called for more. He pulled her back down with him, dipping them both down to their necks in the water. He kept one arm around her middle, but his other hand he slid down her middle and between her legs. She steadied herself against the pool's side with her back, feet, and one hand grasping the pool's lip over one of her shoulders.

She sighed with a soft moan as her eyes closed and her head tilted back against the pool's edge. He caressed her gently, softly, building her arousal further. He watched her face, her lips open with sighs and heavy breaths and her eyes closed, her expression of complete engrossment in how he touched her. Beyond her groan, as he pressed his fingers deeper, the waterfall fell, the breeze in the air above the pool shifted slightly and he could faintly hear a more distant rumble that would be the massive waterfall across the valley. He thought it was perhaps the best moment he had lived in a long while. There had been other glorious moments with her, but tonight was now near the top. The air was fresh and cool, the water warm and her body hot around him as he slid his body forward and entered her.

She opened her eyes and wrapped her arms around him, now leaving him to steady them in the water. Her legs caught around his waist, her ankles crossed under his backside, as he pushed deeper, settling just where he loved to be. Her breasts pressed against his chest, her mouth against his cheek and ear, as he gripped the pool's edge with both hands, pressing her back against the side as gently as he could as he rocked his hips.

She sighed again, that deep long sigh that told him that she was deeply aroused, but also very relaxed. Her mouth pulled from his cheek and he turned his head to capture her mouth with his. They kissed slowly and deeply, the kiss as relaxed as her mood and her hands slid around his shoulders and up into his hair with lazy caresses.

Their lips parted slowly, but he was reluctant to let it end, leaning back in to kiss her again. She smiled against his lips as the next kiss ended and she pulled her face back from his, sliding one warm palm across his cheek.

"Are you glad that you braved the dark forest for this camping site?" She asked as she ran her fingers along his jaw.

He chuckled at that, shifting them and rocking his hips to resume some movement. "I'd brave anything for this."

Her sound of agreement mixed with a soft moan as she leant her head back and rocked against him a little as well. With both his hands locked onto the pool's edge he couldn't touch her as he wanted, but as he rolled his hips, her belly and breasts rubbed against him satisfying him enough for now.

"So," he asked her quietly. "How many guys have you brought here to seduce?"

She laughed at his term and met his eyes. "Just two," she replied with slightly teasing smile.

John nodded. "Am I one of those?"

"Yes," she replied with a grin, one of her hands sliding from his shoulder around his neck to stroke across his upper chest.

John nodded, pleased as he pressed her closer to the side of the pool and rocked his hips to lift her legs higher around his waist. "So, who was this other guy then?"

She lifted a surprised eyebrow, but he just lifted a questioning one in reply.

Her eyes shifted slightly as her focus turned inward to her memories. "Cherson," she replied with a soft smile that oddly made John smile as much as it did tease some jealousy. "He lived in the settlement at the base of the first hillside. We went on a long walk one day," she told him, her smile still soft, though her eyes were focused now back on her hand stroking John's chest. "It was a very hot bright summer's day and we had trekked halfway around the hillsides, so he showed me this pool, where we could cool off from the heat. We only visited this pool once, but I have returned here myself over the years when I have visited this planet."

"Reliving old memories?" John asked.

She smiled at him knowingly. "No, not really. I find it a relaxing and rejuvenating place to visit."

John nodded, rocking his hips slightly again. "So, did Cherson and you..?" He asked lifting his eyebrows suggestively.

She laughed as he had intended. "Yes, we made love."

John frowned at the poolside around them. "Not here, though right?"

"No," she replied instantly and her tone implied that she would never do that. She looked off away to the small waterfall filling the pool. "There is a hidden ledge behind the falling water."

John looked over his shoulder towards the waterfall and then back at her. "Hiding?"

She grinned. "It was in the middle of the day and we were young," she replied.

"How young?" He asked.

"Perhaps just twenty years," she replied, leaning backwards from him slightly, altering how they were joined and he let out an appreciative breath at the motion. She rocked her own hips and he pressed her tighter to the side to finally break one hand from the edge to slide down her side to her hip. He clutched her, helping them move together.

"And you and Laura Oxley?" Teyla asked surprising him that she had recalled the name so clearly. "What did you two do in the forest alone together?"

The memory threw him off slightly and he laughed lightly as he pressed tighter to her. "Umm, we fooled around a bit," he informed her and she smiled with interest. "Took all our clothes off…and then she ran away with them all."

Teyla laughed loudly. "What? Why?"

John glanced away with an embarrassed smile. "I may have asked out her best friend the week before I made a move on her."

Teyla tutted him though she was smiling widely. She wrapped both her arms right around his shoulders again, pulling herself up right against him.

"You were young as well, a handsome young man, and besides you only had only one thing on your mind," she told him smiling as she pressed her lips and body against his.

John would have agreed with her, but he lost himself in the feel of her, of her mouth passionate against his again, and his body yearned to move within her properly. He set one hand back around her hip, pulling and thrusting as best he could with their slightly precarious position against the side.

She pulled back, setting her hand against the middle of his chest, her usual signal to move position.

"It may be easier this way," she uttered as she dropped her legs from around him and he pulled from her. She turned between his arms, leaning her forearms back along the pool's edge and she pressed her backside against his groin. Mumbling his approval, John slid into her, the angle so much easier and he could thrust freely now, her backside nestled against him. They rocked together and she sighed with delight, leaning her head forward to settle her cheek down against her folded arms. The view surrounded his sight of her as he leant forward and pressed kisses to her upper back, following the natural lines of her with his mouth, all while rocking slowly and comfortably with her. They had planned a two day camping trip together and the prospect of having just two days alone with her like this, free and uninhibited made his arousal peak a little higher.

He slid one hand around her front, caressing her belly and breasts. She in turn dropped one arm from the side of the pool, her hand sliding down his side under the water, stroking his hip and thigh. She sighed happily again and he smiled as he kissed up her damp shoulder. Her hair fell to one side of her neck, exposing the long line of the back of her neck, and he slid his mouth and tongue up the sight. She moaned at that, dropping her head slightly to arch her neck and he felt her constrict around him slightly.

"Liked that, huh?" He whispered to her and she murmured her approval.

He repeated the caress, making it slower this time, kissing and sucking her skin as he did and she began to wriggle against him more. He closed his eyes against the view as they began to move faster together, her nails sharp against his hip as she gripped him. He lifted his chest from hers slightly, both his hands returning to grip the pool's rim either side of her. She arched against him, the moonlight sliding down her damp back, but the water limited his full view of her. He slowed his movements.

"Face to face," he whispered his request, pulling himself out from her, but she didn't turn round to face him, but instead reached back for him. He understood her request in turn and slid around her as she pulled back from the edge slightly. He pressed his upper back against the side of the pool as he slipped between her arms. She wrapped her arms around him immediately, her lower legs folded up against the pool's wall on either side of his middle. He pushed his hips forward and slid back inside of her, his arms around her body fully now under the water and she began to move with him, her grip on the side giving her all the leverage she needed.

He looked up at her she arched her back, her breasts lifting slightly from the dark water. He gripped her backside, holding her tight to him as she rocked, rubbing them together to help her find her release. He kept his eyes on her, in wonderment of all he saw and felt. Her eyes met his and they were wide and dark, telling him she was almost there. He rocked a little more with her and she gasped loudly in pleasure. She was almost there.

She closed her eyes, her head dropping back, the moonlight over her expression. One of her hands dropped from the pool edge to slide onto his chest and he tightened his grip around her to support her as finally she cried out. It was a loud and high cry full of sensual release and delight. He fought to keep himself still as she tightened, squeezing him to the point of him almost losing his control. He looked up her throat to her open mouth, her face flushed even in the starlight and he had to move.

He held her tightly as he turned them, keeping his arms around her back, but still found a grip the pool's side for purchase. He pressed her backside flush against the side, trusting that she would tell him if it was too uncomfortable, though she was still sighing with her pleasure. A good grip around her and on the side, he lifted his knees and pressed them against the pool wall and began thrusting into her. She steadied herself against his shoulders, still arching her back, her head over the deadly edge of the pool and the waterfall below, as she began groaning his name.

As he sped up, he found himself thinking determined thoughts to banish all of her sensual memories of that Cherson that had brought her here that first time. She nodded to him and he realised he was telling her that, that any time she visited here alone again that she would only think of John and of this moment as their passions collided and she was crying out his name. One of her knees wedged between their chests and he slid one arm under it to grip the pool side again, opening her wide for him as he thrust into her. Imprinting himself upon her and this moment.

Her hands slid around him, her mouth against his ear as she told him that no other man touched her as he did, that he filled her like no other. This rush of basic demands and dirty talk sometimes arrived at the end when they made love, but now it felt different. He wanted to be deeper in her than ever before, to make her always think of this moment with him. To never let any other man ever touch her again, that she was his and he was hers. He didn't care that he was telling her this in a heated rough voice, because she was digging her nails into his back, her tongue licking into his ear as she constantly groaned her agreement to his words. She bit along his jaw, her teeth sharply dull and her breath hot against his damp skin.

He trust heavily into her and she tightened, her cries echoing a moment later, and he released hard and fast. He pumped into her, but held her tight to him, and in that instant he found himself wanting her pregnant, swollen with his kid as she had been with Torren. It would have been shocking to him if he hadn't of been lost in the most amazing orgasm. He gripped her to him, by her shoulders and by her backside, her leg still high around his middle. He groaned and shuddered against her, her panting breaths loud against his ear. Her weight eased further over him, her cheek resting down against the top of one of his shoulders, one arm around him as the other helped support them against the side.

He panted into the dark warmth that created by the side of her neck and upper body bent over and around him. He rested his face further into that womanly soft space of her throat and breasts, the curve of her neck and her chin against his temple as he opened his eyes. The smell of them together, of the water around them and her breath against him all combined with her feel, the deep warmth spreading throughout his body and the feeling of smooth happy joy filled him.

They held each other, locked in that position, breathing slowing and their bodies occasionally still juddering from pleasure.

He heard her soft happy sigh and felt her hands wandering across his upper back. She felt good against him and he was pretty sure she liked how he felt. Her leg around him had dropped, her knee draped over his arm that was locked around her backside still.

He lifted his face from against her as he released the pool's side and he pulled them both down deeper into the water once more. The warmth was even more soothing as they dipped down to their necks, their bodies loosening from each other.

She made a soft sound of pleasure, her hands sliding around to his chest and she pressed her lips to his. He responded to the soft lazy kiss, his hands on her sides and hips to keep her steady in the water.

"You were right," she whispered softly as their lips parted. "I do not even remember his name now."

John flushed a little to be reminded of the things he had said to her just now, but he wasn't going to take them back in the least.

"Good," he replied as he slid his arm a little further around her middle holding her closer.

She chuckled at him. "Though, you must be concerned now, for we have broken one of the movie rules."

John smiled at her, turning with her in the water. He felt very good, but rather tired now. Their day of polite conversation with Mapa's family and people, followed by the long trek up here, and now he was more than ready to just rest. He had been so looking forward to just lying alone with her, no thoughts of being called on the radio, or watching the time for when they had to pick up Torren. It was just the two of them.

"I think we should lay out the sleeping bag under the stars," she said softly to him, her arm folded over his shoulder and her hip brushing against his. He ran one hand down under the water to soothe over her curves again.

"That sounds good to me," he managed to reply.

"Come on then," she told him with a smile and moved away from him.

She swam away, only to dive down under the water as she neared the waterfall. John took a breath and dropped down under the surface, getting a good purchase on the pool floor and he pushed off after her. He watched the lines of her moving through the water, moving through less patches of moonlight now and into more shadow. She arched her back and lifted up to the surface, but John swam on towards her. He touched a hand against her backside and felt her wriggle slightly, so he slid his hand around the tempting mound of her flesh some more as he moved up to the water's surface.

He broke through the water to see her running her hands over her wet hair and smiling at him. They were at the slightly shallower end now, near their backpacks and she shifted forward just able to set her toes on the floor. She set her hands on the edge of the pool and lifted herself up out of the water in one swift motion, the water pouring off her naked body as she did. John kept his hand on her backside all the way until she lifted too far away out of the pool.

He moved to the edge himself, and as she did, he set his hands on the edge and lifted himself up and out of the water. Teyla stood nearby, her eyes on him with interest as he got his feet under him and stood up, running his hands over his hair. Her eyes were wandering down his body and he waited for her to look up at his face. He gave her an amused questioning look, but she never showed any embarrassment anymore in looking at him. She stepped back towards him and lifted her chin for a kiss, as at the same time her hand slid around his hip to caress over his backside. He smiled against the kiss, liking when she was a touch possessive as she felt now. Her hand slid up his back as her lips parted from his.

"Laura Oxley was a very foolish girl to have left you naked in the forest," Teyla whispered to him and he grinned at her.

She moved away, heading towards their backpacks. John enjoyed the view of her walking away, before he noted that he was damp and getting a little chilled stood out in the air.

Teyla handed him a large towel as he approached. "Thanks," he told her as he began towelling himself off. "Are we going to camp here?" He asked indicating the relatively flat area just off to the side.

"It is a good location, yes," she replied as she dried herself.

"You want to put up the tent, or just get the sleeping bag out then?" He asked.

She looked up to the sky and then over to the camping space. "We could put up the tent tomorrow," she suggested.

John nodded. He liked the idea of just a sleeping bag, and since it was a well padded one they should be comfortable though. Feeling oddly comfortable in just his skin, he set out pulling out the sleeping bag as she cleared the camping space of twigs and whatever space bugs lived here. He approached with the sleeping bag and the thin pillows that fitted inside it. He had borrowed the tent from the geology department, wanting something with more room than just the standard military tents, but the sleeping bag he had bought for them a few months back. They had taken Torren on a camping trip on New Athos, and had taught him how to fish 'Earth style', using a proper rod and flies. Though, not with hooks for Torren's line. Rodney, despite complaining about the flies and chill in the air had somehow caught the most and biggest fish, much to Ronon's annoyance. They had cooked the big fish, despite Rodney's protest, over the campfire and had all sat out under the stars. He had enjoyed that camping trip, but as he watched Teyla peel back the top of the sleeping bag and lay down, he decided that this one would be hard to beat.

He handed her the pillows and made sure he was definitely all dried off, before he crouched down and crawled onto the sleeping back with her. He laid down naked beside her, with just the air over them, and leant forward and kissed her. Then he settled on his back next to her. She rested her closest knee over his thigh and he settled one hand over her soft inner thigh. He was damn sure he would be waking her up again later tonight, but for now, he felt contented and sleepy.

He looked up at the stars through the thin reach of some branches above them, as he idly stroking his fingers over her thigh.

He ran through the day in his mind, especially enjoying the highlights. Her inner thigh was soft against his fingers and one of her hands settled over his middle as she too lay silently looking up at the sky. He turned his head to look at her beside him.

There had been something to her mood today that he realised now. She had brought him here to enjoy this pool and the view, which he had no problems with in the least, but there had been something about the way she had held off kissing him this afternoon and that she had stripped naked and slid into the water waiting for him. He had enjoyed every moment of it, but he knew her well enough now, and something told him that something was on her mind.

He reached out with his free hand to touch her hand resting on his middle, gently capturing it in his.

"Why'd you bring me here?" He asked her quietly.

She turned her head to look at him and he knew instantly that he had been right, for he saw her surprise and that extra something that had been in her eyes today. Maybe longer. He felt slightly worried suddenly. Things had been really good between them, and he couldn't think of anything that might have been worrying her. So maybe it was something else he didn't know about. He tightened his hand around hers, looking into her eyes to try to understand.

She smiled at him, that soft loving smile that he so enjoyed and he felt a little better, but it didn't banish away the worries now.

"I wanted to tell you," she began and he focused intensely on her. "That I love you."

Surprise and relief pushed aside most of his worries, but part of him waited for something more.

"Please tell me there isn't a 'but' on the end of that sentence," he asked.

Her smile widened. "No but," she replied.

He let out a breath of relief, the physical sensation very real, and looked back at her. "I thought you were going to tell me something bad or pull a Laura Oxley on me."

She chuckled at that, turning onto her side, her thigh pulling from under his hand to be replaced by the other one as she laid turned toward him. He happily set his hand on the outside of this thigh, but kept a hold of her hand in his. The angle of her arm meant that their joined hands lifted from his chest, held up between them. He rubbed his thumb over hers in that grip.

They had already shared these words, though hadn't repeated them that often, but her saying them now meant something. There was something so deeply simple and honest in her words and he felt himself feeling all he did for her renewed. He looked from their joined hands to her face, watching him with a soft gaze.

"I love you too," he told her honestly. He didn't have trouble saying them to her, they were alone and he thought them often enough, even if he didn't say them. He was pretty sure that he told her a lot when they made love, but this was different. A reaffirmation he guessed, and it seemed particularly important for her.

"Would you like to move into my new quarters with me?" She asked softly.

He was aware that she had put in for new quarters, so that Torren could have a small separate room attached to the main room. The idea of joining her in them when she moved had occurred to him.

"You think Torren will mind?" He asked with a smile and he saw a clear touch of relief to her expression.

"I think it unlikely that he will sleep for days to have his favourite living with us," Teyla replied.

"You think I'm his favourite Uncle?" John asked feeling more than a little pleased. It was a subject of much teasing among the group as to whom Torren preferred out of all his uncles.

Teyla shifted her eyes to their hands, her thumb sliding against his in return, and then back to him. "I have a request about that," she said softly and slightly tentatively. It caught his attention fully.

"What is it?" He asked, too curious to be teasing about it being a 'request'.

Her attention was direct, Teyla the Athosian leader showing through her manner a little now. He had teased her about how she changed her bearing when she talked about the Athosians officially and when she was telling Torren off for something wrong he had done. This was the part of her that was linked strongly with her own traditions, and he understood as he knew he was different on duty, even with his close friends. The arrival of this sense of her was curious given the situation. She seemed more dynamic and confident and strong in a different way when she looked at him like this, close to how he had seen her that very first time on Old Athos.

"I do not wish you to be an 'Uncle' of Torren's anymore," she said quietly.

He understood her in that, for he had been feeling a little bit weird about that lately. He had always loved being the cool Uncle to Torren, but now that he and Teyla were so involved, being just like the other guys to Torren had felt wrong somehow. He had had no idea what to do about that, other than he had stopped referring to himself as Uncle when talking with Torren. It had been a subtle change, but it had helped him.

Yet, as she looked at him, he realised there was far more here for her to be saying this, but he couldn't be sure. He studied her eyes closely, as much as he could in the night, and he wondered if this was why she had her Athosian face on now.

"Who do you want me to be?" He asked quietly.

He thought he saw an extra flicker in her eyes that told him that there was indeed an extra conversation going on between them, other than discussion of Torren.

"You may be what you wish to Torren. There are several Athosian terms similar to Uncle or guardian, but perhaps just 'John' would be favourable," she suggested.

He nodded, his eyes locked with her, his heart having sped up as he considered what else might be in the air.

"If you and Torren don't mind, then yes," he replied quietly after a beat, the sparkle in her eyes brightening, but he wasn't sure if she understood to how much he was referring. "I'd love to move in with you guys," he concluded to be clear on the simple question.

She smiled, her eyes shining and her hand tightening with his.

He looked to their joined hands. He could see himself always being 'John' to Torren, but perhaps something else to Teyla. Making that step to commitment was big enough, but even more so when your girl was from another galaxy. There were big implications if he was one day recalled, or what if he stayed in Pegasus? Many questions, but ultimately there was only one decision, and he realised that he had already made it. The details would be worked out as and when needed, but he was damn sure that he wasn't going to let go of this between them, and tonight she had told him the same. This relationship was far stronger than he had expected, but far easier as well. The last time he had entered into these thoughts of commitment had been with Nancy, but he had been younger and almost a different man back then. It had been a beneficial decision for both of them, a life lived together that they could enjoy. This with Teyla…with was different somehow. More real in a way and far more significant.

He looked up from her hand. "So when are we moving into the new place?"

"Julian said the room should be empty any day now," she replied.

The 'leader' in her was gone now, but that side's appearance in this conversation had told him that this decision, to admit love and to live together, was far more significant than it would be on Earth. She had not asked him for more than that, but she had made it clear that for her, to say she was in love with him and to invite him to join her and Torren, her family, was a profound offer. He knew he was not obligated to return it with anything more, but it had made it clear to him that he did want. He suspected that there was some official way to propose among the Athosians, and he decided to speak to Halling about it when they got back. He stroked his thumb over the back of her hand.

"Sounds good," he replied.

"There is even a third smaller room that could be used for storage," she said, tempting him into the move.

He smiled at her. "Yeah, storage," he repeated, his eyes holding hers and yet another silent conversation flowed between them. He saw her swallow as her eyes held his, and he knew that she had not intended that meaning, but that she understood him. There would be a free room and one which, some time in the future, could be used for another purpose far from storage.

She smiled, a little crookedly, her other hand touching down against his chest. So much went unsaid, but they had an understanding. They always agreed that any day could change their lives doing the job that they did, but in the light of that, perhaps it was important to be clear as well.

He shifted closer to be able to kiss her softly and he felt the emotion to her kiss. They would not talk about this again, not until the moments when the actual decisions arrived, but it was there – the intention. It lingered in her eyes as they gazed at each other, alone and unafraid to share in this moment, and he kept his touch over her thigh and her hand light but constant.

Their gazes broke gradually as they shifted closer to one another, getting more comfortable and sleepy. John pulled her closer against his side, dropping her hand so that she could snuggle up against him. Happy with that, he settled and looked back up to the night overhead. One of the long thin twigs hanging over them, lying in the way of his view of a large constellation of stars, shifted oddly in the breeze.

"There's not any dangerous bugs that are gonna drop on us tonight are there?" He asked her, turning his head to look at her. The air was still warm over them, but he wondered if the protection of a tent might have been smart move, considering that he was lying here completely naked. Who knew where other alien bugs might attach themselves!

She smiled at him. "You have been spending far too much time with Rodney," she told him.

"When you've been fed on by a massive bug before, you tend to worry about these things," he argued.

She nodded against his chest, her hand fitting further around his middle to hug him more securely. "I will protect you," she told him with a smile in her voice.

John had no doubt that she would, but the whole bug thing was too much, besides there were advantages to snuggling up more. "To be on the safe side," he said, shifting against her as he reached for the top of the sleeping bag that was folded back to his right. He pulled it over them and she did that crazy thing she did to be able to zip the bottom of the bag closed with her toes. She turned away to zip up the side of the bag and finally turned to lie against him again, the two of them snug together inside the sleeping bag.

John sighed happily as he fitted his arms around his naked lady, feeling far more comfortable now.

"Will this keep away the monsters for you?" She asked softly against him as they intertwined their legs.

"I think it just might," he replied quietly as he dipped his chin and pressed a kiss to her temple.

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THE END


End file.
